US Lacrosse Magazine's Best of Lacrosse 2016

In our annual "Best of Lacrosse" contest, US Lacrosse Magazine has identified five finalists each in nine categories. Fan voting begins Monday, Nov. 28 and ends Monday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m. Eastern. US Lacrosse Magazine staff selections will be published along with the voting results Dec. 27. The fan vote does not determine the winners.

Justify your vote or chime in on the finalists in the comments section below or on social media using the hashtag #BestOfLax.

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With 2013 winding to a close, it's time to unveil both our
choices and the fan vote totals for the annual 'Best of Lacrosse'
from Lacrosse Magazine.

The voting was close for many categories and more than a couple
of them came down to the readers choosing different folks than our
staff did (final choices were made by a group consisting of
Lacrosse Magazine editorial staff as well as US Lacrosse
communications staff.)

Congratulations to all of our winners, and all other nominees.
To even make the final cut of the fan vote meant you had a properly
exemplary year.

We will be unrolling the staff winners and vote totals over the
next two weeks, so be sure to check back to find out who won your
category

Best Women's Player - Team USA's
Katrina Dowd

@JC Pinheiro

Team USA attacker and North Carolina womens's assistant Katrina
Dowd had an out-sized year in 2013, earning All-World status with a
World Cup record 28 goals in Ontario as her team swept to the gold
in stunning fashion.

Best Team Breakthrough - Milton (Ga.)
Eagles

A longtime power in Georgia, the Milton Girls were still a
relative unknown on the national stage before March, when the
Eagles gave powerhouse McDonogh (Md.) a run for its money and then
topped regional rival Vero Beach (Fla.) for the first time in six
tries.

The emergence landed stars Annie Ruland and Lydia Cassada in the
magazine and the program on the tip of everyone's tongue.

Best Women's Coach - North Carolina's Jenny Levy

The only coach that the University of North Carolina women's
program has ever had, Jenny Levy had built a consistently excellent
team in the women's division I world, but was dogged by the lack of
an NCAA title, due in no small part to the consistent excellence of
conference foe Maryland and Northwestern's dominant run.

In 2013, however, she put that behind her, beating Northwestern
in the semifinals and then taking an epic finals win over Maryland
to quiet any naysayers.

Best Individual Performance - Duke's Brendan Fowler

A dominant season (winning nearly 65% of his draws) was capped
by a monster NCAA tournament weekend, winning 36 of 59 draws and
scooping 26 groundballs. At one point in the finals, Fowler - who
went 20-for-28 on the day - won 13 straight draws, helping the Blue
Devils reverse a 5-0 deficit on the way to the title.

The scary thing - Fowler comes back along with many of his Duke
teammates in 2014.

Best Men's Coach- Duke's John
Danowski

A 2-4 start had John Danowski and his Duke Blue Devils in the
crosshairs of doubters in early March. But some key adjustments
paid major dividends for the Blue Devils, like moving Christian
Walsh to midfield to insert Case Matheis at attack and the
emergence of Kyle Turri in net after the season-ending injury to
Dan Wigrizer. A 9-8 win under the lights against Loyola started a
14-1 run that went all the way to the NCAA finals, where Duke took
home its second title in the Danowski era with a 16-10 win over
Syracuse.

Best Individual Breakthrough - Bellarmine's Dillon
Ward

A fixture on the indoor scene for a while now - taking home the
Robert Melville Award as the Junior A circuit's top keeper three
taimes and Minto Cups 2008, 2009 and 2012 - Ward burst onto the
NCAA scene this spring, leading Division I with a 66.2 saves
percentage and earning ECAC Goalie of the Year and third-team All
American honors.

Drafted to the MLL by Ohio, he was later traded to Hamilton,
where he became the top backup to Brett Queener. He was also
drafted third overall in the NLL.